Sunday Sept 3 Evening - Dex and Langdon

[Gaffer]

[Post here for Flannigan's etc.]

[Langdon]

"Dex! Good to see you. Hope I didn't worry you. Dinner with Miss Hirt went quite well." The smile on my face is plain as day and Dex recognizes it as that goofy smile a guy gets when a dame shows just enough interest.

[Dexter Ford]

Dex shakes his head with a smile. "Up for a drink at Flannigan's bar and quick recounting of what you learned from skir...Ms Hirt?"

[Langdon]

"It might not be much of a conversation... She didn't give up much information." I chuckle as we arrive at Flannigan's. I order a round for the two of us.

As I sip my beer, "Y'know, Dex, I've seen plenty of women and she just strikes me as being the lonely lady. I'm sure you know the kind. She loses her brother, her father, her friend, her dog... and she goes looking for a friend."

I take another swig between each sentence. "What did I tell her? Not much! She didn't even press the issue! Here's a lady who's just hired us to find her brother, sounding desperate, and I didn't think of it until just now, but she seemed one cool customer at dinner. She seemed more interested in..."

I clear my throat, "Sorry. What I mean is, I told her we'd visited her brother's apartment and didn't find out anything except that a lady visited with a dog. She said that was her and her dog. Then she went on about how she shouldn't have expected us to find anything so soon and maybe when this is all over we can go out dancing." I give Dex a nudge and get up to get two more beers.

[Dexter Ford]

Dex listens attentively, then gets up and orders two more beers, as well as two shots of a fine Irish whiskey. He places the round down on the table, and throws back the shot. "Slainte, or to your health as my father would say."

"Okay, so the dame was a cool customer and didn't expect us to find much. I am not even sure what she expected us to find at her 'brother's' apartment. Heck, did you even find out anymore if she is the real Miss Hirt, or is she still pulling our chains? Did she seem genuinely upset with her brother missing, or was she looking for something else?"

[Langdon]

After all those, I shrug a little more to the left than I meant to. "Ehhh.... she got all teary eyed when that song came on...Alllll of meeee... why not take allll of meeee... You know the song, right? I figure she's pulling us around, but heck, she can pull my chain if she wants."

[Dexter Ford]

Dex laughs. "Langdon, as long as she isn't playing you for a patsy, enjoy yourself. She just reminds me of someone I once met connected with the mob in Chicago. What did my partner call that dame?" He snaps his fingers. "A black widow. Pretty to look at, but with a deadly bite. So just watch yourself if you take her dancing."

Drinking up a bit more beer. "Since we still don't know more than we did before this little shindig, I am still tempted to give Mr. Hirt's flat a more thorough going over. I wonder...." He goes off into thought for a moment. "I am surprised we haven't heard from Delores. I mean, I can understand the detective not contacting us, but I would have thought she might have been curious."

[Langdon]

"Dolores? I hope we didn't send her to look into something more dangerous than we were looking into!" I chuckle.

[Dexter Ford]

"For some reason I think Delores can more than handle herself. Razor wit and sharper tongue being her primary weapons, from what little interaction I have had with her." Dex sips his beer for a moment. "You know, to be honest, we have kinda reached a dead end in our investigations, besides my going back and letting myself into Hirt's apartment for a look see. I am not worried about the police bothering me, since I have been hired by a Miss Hirt, even if she is not the real Miss Hirt. Hell, I am tempted to head over there tonight, especially since all the book reading I have done has given me a bit of headache. If you want a copy of what I discovered, I can give you the notes tomorrow. But I like to think I am a man of action and I have had my share of sitting about during my days with the Prohibition Bureau waiting for raids. Every since my wife and daughter passed on, I can't stand waiting..."

[Gaffer]

OOC,I don't think you have set a time on Monday to try to get everyone together to share what you've learned and/or go see Marlene at Alphonse's apartment. She said she'd be available there in the afternoon, which doesn't mean she won't be there in the morning or possibly tonight. Langdon has a holiday tomorrow, but Esposito and Delores will probably be in the office, at least first thing. Dex, you know the lobby will be busy in the morning and Myron will be back at the front desk. Your best chance at not being caught breaking in to the apartment or the mailbox is tonight.

[Dexter Ford]

OOC, depending on Langdon's response, Dex will either spend some time with Langdon discussing their next step, or excuse himself to head back to Hirt's apartment building and do some snooping around.

[Langdon]

"Maybe it's the whiskey, or the beer, or both, but..." I lower my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "... I say we check out his apartment."

I straighten up, smiling like a politician, rising to my feet with the grace of a man who practices his podium-approaches at the sink mirror every night before bed. I drop enough money on the table to cover the bill, plus a little extra, and nod to Dex. "Shall we?"

<OOC: I'm willing to make a spend to show that although Langdon can let himself get a little loose on a couple beers, he's with it, and maybe only slightly less-coordinated than he'd be completely sober>

[Gaffer]

It's a short walk from Flannigan's to Dex's Model A, though the sidewalks are still thronged. The streets are pretty crowded in the vicinity of Club 21 and the other clubs and restaurants, but as they head downtown the traffic thins. It's a bit chilly, but the almost-full moon floats in a clear sky.

It's after nine o'clock when Dex passes by 8 Thomas Street and pulls in to the curb. Although the crowd at Trilby's Hat seems to be going strong, all the other businesses on the block are closed and many of the residences are dark. Only a couple of windows in Hirt's building show light and the lobby is only dimly lit.

OOC,[color=#FF8000]Let me know what you intend on this visit. I don't want to rush things, but I don't want to keep others waiting too long to begin Monday's threads.[/color]

[Dexter Ford]

Dex has a set of lockpicks in his car, buried inside a small tool bag he carries around. Call it an emergency kit for a detective. Once they arrive outside the building, Dex will inform Langdon that they are going to leave the mailbox alone. "That is a federal offense. I don't intend to have the Postmaster General on my case, and I don't think anything in it could be too important. If it comes to it, I will find the local postmaster and see if I can pull some strings to get access to the mail, at least a looksee what is in the box. Tonight, we are just going to let ourselves into Mr. Hirt's apartment, search the place for anything obvious. An easy in and out, no problems expected course of action."

If Langdon appears a bit nervous, Dex will hand over a small silver flask of Irish whiskey for Langdon to take a nip from "to steel the nerves."

Spoiler:

OOC, Dex is going to do exactly what he said: get in the building, into Hirt's apartment, and then search the place as quickly as possible. I'll spend whatever I need to make this as easy as I just described it. Moreover, if Langdon appears a bit nervous, Dex will call on his old Prohibition Bureau training and treat Langdon like a rookie on his first big raid.

[Gaffer]

Dex has little trouble picking the front door lock this time, since he's familiar with it. The lobby is very quiet, your footsteps muffled by the carpet. The elevator indicator is on the fourth floor.

[Langdon]

I have no reason to think otherwise <OOC: no sense trouble> so I press the elevator call button and wait. When we get up to the apartment, I plan to take a bureaucrat's and accountant's look through Hirt's papers. There's been so much mention of money, I'm sure I can find something.

[Gaffer]

The elevator dings and the doors open. "Good evening," a young man in a topcoat and fedora nods and smiles as he walks past you and out the lobby doors. The ride to the third floor is smooth and silent. You step into a softly carpeted foyer, tastefully appointed with dimly-lit sconces and a small table holding fresh flowers.

There is no response to the door bell for Apartment 302, so Dex kneels and twirls his "tools" in the standard lock, popping the catch open in less than a minute. Dex and Langdon step inside and close the door.

[Dexter Ford]

Before the man in the fedora leaves, Dex will look him over quickly, hoping to notice anything out the norm: bulge under his jacket, muddy shoes, the usual signs that he might not be part of those supposed to live in the building? If nothing, he will shake his head and head into the elevator. Once they are in Hirt's apartment, he has two things he wants to check:
1) a quick search to see if there is a safe of any kind (checking nightstands, behind paintings, etc.)
2) a quick scan over the bookshelves to see if there are any more books or anything that stands out as connected to this strange cult he is connected with.

Dex will make sure the door to the apartment is closed behind them, and he will pull out two small flashlights from his kit, handing one to Langdon. However, he will turn on a few lights, believing it will be less suspicious than if flashing lights from their flashlights were seen through windows.

[Gaffer]

The young man looked like a fellow who had just dropped off his girlfriend. Nothing about him alerted your investigative instincts.

OOC,I'll give you what you see at a quick glance around the rooms. You'll have to tell me what you want to look at more carefully.

When you flip on the lights, you see a closet door beside the entrance. The living room is tastefully furnished with a sofa and armchairs, a couple of brass lamps on end-tables, and a big radio cabinet. There are two tall bookshelves along one wall, a small number of books carelessly stacked or fallen over and a picture frame face-down on one of the shelves. A stiff new rug is underfoot. [Langdon thinks it's rather cheap.]

The study is very masculine with extensive cherry bookcases and a large matching desk with a typewriter on a stand and a leather swivel chair. An antique Persian carpet covers the floor. [Langdon notes that it is quite expensive.] There are several hunt prints on the walls and, leaning against one wall, a framed painting that depicts a phantasmagorical city, dominated by a pale tower against a black sky.

The shelves again hold few books in haphazard arrangement. The desk is clear of all but a few pieces of paper and ordinary notes – a dinner at the Harvard Club, a grocery list, that sort of thing – and the drawers are mostly empty, no sign of any writings. Beside the typewriter is a well-thumbed book of street maps of New York City, the south Brooklyn section dog-eared and foxed. In the ashtray is a matchbook from Trilby’s Hat.

The door to the bathroom in the hallway is ajar. Everything looks neat and tidy in there. A dining alcove has a buffet and matching table with four chairs, a couple of watercolors on the walls.

The kitchen door is askew and hard to push open. The kitchen is very art moderne – lots of chrome and streamlined appliances, a black-and-white tiled floor. There’s a back door leading out to the fire escape with a broken pane of glass.

There are two bedrooms, one of which is devoid of any personal items whatsoever, a guest room. The second, larger bedroom is obviously Hirt’s own – the wardrobes and dressers are packed with clothes, and there is a small bookshelf laden with novels and other mundane books. On Hirt’s nightstand is a beautiful edition of The Thousand and One Nights; the bookmark set to the start of the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Have at it, boys.

[Dexter Ford]

With the obvious backdoor window being broken (is it near a lock? is it obvious someone could have used that to get into the apartment? is there glass on the kitchen floor?) Dex won't be too worried to make sure everything is in the same spot when he leaves.

As follows:
1) Quick scan through the closet in the entranceway. Notice state of shelves compared to study. Signs it has already been rifled through?
2) In the study, check behind the prints on the wall for a safe of any sort. Especially behind the phantasmagorical one. Do the drawers in the desk appear like they should be that empty, or more like they have recently been cleaned out? Look for anything truly out of the ordinary that might have been missed if the place has already been ransacked.
3) Ask Langdon if he knows anything about the Trilby's Hat, tossing him the matchbook.
4) Why is the kitchen door hard to open? Has it been forced? (Obviously since we got into the kitchen, it can't be jammed by a body behind it. : ) )
5) With Langdon's help, we will go over Hirt's bedroom more closely: checking closets, night stands, under the bed, etc.